A WCC conference has issued a joint statement calling the churches and ecumenical actors to commit themselves to support one another in prayers and actions to support Christian presence and witness in the Middle East.

The Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development (DERD) of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East has delivered around 75,000 humanitarian aid kits to an estimate of 280,045 individuals in Syria amidst its on-going conflict.

Describing dramatic consequences of the Syrian civil war, Bishop Elia Toumeh of Marmarita said that when the difficulties pass, Christians must play a constructive role in the reconciliation of opposing factions for a new Syrian society.

As the uncertainty of the whereabouts of two Syrian church leaders kidnapped in Syria on Monday continued Wednesday, the patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox churches have issued a joint communique calling on churches around the world to “stand fast in the face of what is going on and witness to their faith in the power of love in this world.”

Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, newly elected as the 97th Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem and Superior of the Brotherhood of Saint James, has received congratulations and an affirmation of support from Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

In an international conference on the situation of Christians in the Middle East, the WCC general secretary highlighted the significance of the cross as a symbol of hope for the global church in solidarity with Christians in the Arab world.

“The eyes of the world are looking towards Egyptian youth, who are capable of changing the future of their country by offering hope and inspiration to the world. We keep them in our prayers,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC.

Power, social injustice, the threat of extremism and Christian-Muslim relations will be among the main themes of a conference on the situation of Christians in the Middle East. The conference is set to take place next week in Lebanon.

“We do not live in the mentality of the ghetto, nor in the mentality of a minority complex, nor do we live as dhimmi (dependent) people,” said Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan. “We have always been, as Arab Christians, building our societies, loyal to our countries and nationalities, bringing hope in hopeless situations.”

The Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting near Geneva at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey voted to approve the full membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) in the WCC.

âViolence begets violence. It is not possible for Syrians to overcome conflict without a political solution, strong democratic institutions and demilitarization of the country,â said Dr Haytham Al-Manna, a prominent Syrian human rights defender and opposition figure, head of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB).